1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a photographic printing apparatus, and particularly to an image processing apparatus which effects image processing based on image data and a photographic printing apparatus which allows an image recorded on a photographic film to be printed onto a photographic printing paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been conventionally known a photographic printing apparatus in which an image recorded on a photographic film is printed onto a photographic printing paper.
When a film image is printed onto a photographic printing paper in the photographic printing apparatus, a high-quality photograph (print) can be prepared with the principal portion of a subject (in most cases of general photography, a person's face) printed with normal coloring.
For this reason, in the conventional photographic printing apparatus, the principal portion of the subject is automatically extracted from the film image, and based on density data of the extracted principal portion, an amount of exposure is determined so that the principal portion is printed with normal coloring.
However, when the principal portion of the subject is automatically extracted from the film image, the correct principal portion is not necessarily extracted. Particularly, when an image is recorded on a film in an unusual state (for example, underexposure, overexposure, backlighting, or high-contrast state), it is not rare for an incorrect portion to be extracted. In this case, the amount of exposure is determined based on density data of an incorrectly extracted region. Therefore, there is a drawback in that high-quality photographs cannot be prepared.